Tag Archives: body balance

Sneak video sizzler preview of Body Balance release 58

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It only seems two minutes since I started teaching Body Balance release 57 but already the video preview for the next class is out there on the web. The current release is one of the hardest we have ever done. Will the next one prove to be even more challenging?

There are some mild spoilers here, you’ll see some of the moves and hear hints of the new music so watch with caution.

Over to you: I hope you enjoyed this video sizzler preview of Body Balance release 58. Let me know what you think. Leave a message below.

Review of Body Balance release 57

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In ten years of doing Body Balance and 6 years of teaching it, I’ve seen trends in the releases we get every quarter. Sometimes the moves become simpler perhaps to encourage new people. Then there will be a swing to harder routines perhaps to push people to progress. In my opinion Body Balance release 57 is one of the hardest ever. Funnily enough though I don’t think this extreme level of intensity will scare away new people. It is achievable and everyone can be proud of getting through it.

review of body balance release 57

Tai Chi (Just Say it): A beautiful song by electronic group Sleepthief. Back in release 42 this act supplied a stand out song called Eurydice. After hearing that track I went out and bought the Sleepthief album. I’ve loved Just Say It ever since and knew it would turn in Body Balance eventually. The moves flow perfectly and the palm push and back handed block make the arms feel like water. Powerful warrior blocks merge into daintier birds tail stretches before returning to the basic arm sweeps. Stunning.

Sun Salutations (Happy): If you go to a yoga class chances are that the sun salutation routine will always be exactly the same – especially in Ashtanga yoga. On occasion Jackie Mills will choreograph the standard yoga flow of poses but usually she adds variety. Here then is the first major challenge of class 57. Lots of full planks and side planks to get the sweat dripping. And evidence that although hard people are up for it. Despite offering the knees down option most people are doing full planks. The music is a bit weird but we probably need the driving beat to get us through it.

Standing Strength (Set Fire to the Rain): This is not the Adele version but the cover by a male artist is fine. It should be called set fire to the legs. Lots of changes of pose including one leg balances and pyramid pose don’t give you time to think about the intensity. Then the final section, the most extended of warrior poses with the option to bind the arms under the front leg and behind the back has never been seen in the class before but most people are getting it.

Balance (Shelter): The start reminds me of those musical boxes with a ballerina on the top. You can’t teach this one with anything other than a whisper. We are on one leg forever and the flow between poses never stops. It feels like it should be easy but the legs scream by the end. A hard track to learn and a tough one to teach but once it clicks into place this could be one of the best balance tracks ever.

Hips (F*kin’ Perfect): This opening foot and hip stretch takes people by surprise. We obviously don’t stretch our feet enough – I can tell by the looks on the participants faces. It hurts. I imagine years of wearing high heeled shoes doesn’t help either but fortunately I don’t wear them and haven’t been troubled by pose. I love the Gate Pose (though find I can’t avoid calling it the Gate Post) from yoga and it took me a little while to realise what was different here. In yoga we bend over the extended leg rather than away from it. Still nice to see a variation here though. Finally swan pose takes us deeper into the hips. Perfect indeed.

review of body balance release 57

Core abs (Whole Lotta Love): It was once the theme tune to Top of the Pops and this rock track tests the core muscles for four extremely intense minutes. Perhaps a little bitty, but the crunches, the walking planks and the hovers are relentless. I get loud groans when people realise they have to flip back to a hover for the second time.

Core back (Say Hey (I Love you)): Okay here’s the thing. In my opinion this is not only the hardest set of exercises we have ever done in Body Balance but it could be the hardest thing that we have ever done in any Les Mills programme. I sweated like a tap at the Quarterly Workshop and I continue to sweat like a tap after teaching it for a month. Planks, side planks, firefly knee onto elbow, leg raises – what is going on? This is hard core but its great that people are not immediately taking the easy option.

These two core tracks really betray the influence CXWorx is having.

Twists (Fly): With the heart pounding after that core pasting, and with sweat pouring we need a twist track that doesn’t tax the mind or the body. Just a simple progression of prayer twists is a gentle antidote to the maelstrom we have just experienced.

Forward bends and hamstrings (Song to the Siren): From a start in gorilla pose we are soon on the floor stretching the hamstrings with some single leg forward bends.I’m not sure what the seated twist version is doing here but after the power of earlier this feels like it ends the class on a whimper. Perhaps that was intentional.

Relaxation and Meditation (Guardian): A beautiful piece of music if a little over long. I find myself finishing up before the music ends.

So it’s a tough one, but a challenge most seem happy to rise to perhaps helped by the great music in this release. I’ve commented in the past that clubs often promote Body Balance as “the easy class”. No way. With that core section this is heavy duty stuff.

Over to you: I hope you enjoyed this review of body balance release 57. Are you a Body Balance instructor? Please let me know what you think of this class. Is that track 7 the hardest thing ever? Participants what do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know.

First impressions of Body Balance Release 57 after Dunfermline quarterly workshop

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Body Balance Release 57 brought a little sunshine to Scotland today. A good job because as I drove over the Forth Bridge on the way to the Dunfermline quarterly workshop, the rain was torrential and the clouds so low it was like driving through fog.

body balance release 57 dunfermline quarterly workshop

Our trainer was Giovanni Sacco (who also took my Body Combat Quarterly in Glasgow last week – I’m not a stalker honest) and he delivered a polished class. Les Mills are always telling us to script our classes and not to simply reproduce what’s said on the DVD. I’ve seen some trainers who are almost word perfect to the DVD script, so great to hear Gio’s own words. I picked up some great cues today.

So what is Body Balance Release 57 like? Here are my initial impressions.

  • Great music. A real cross section of styles including a rockier feel in the core abs track.
  • One of the songs used to be the theme music for Top of The Pops a long time ago.
  • The Tai Chi warm up is stunning. Beautiful flowing moves and a lovely song by SleepThief.
  • The Sun Salutation has a very long sequence with varied elements. It isn’t what we are used to. This will take a lot of remembering as well as teaching.
  • The balance track feels very balletic.
  • Gate Pose appears in the hips track. We haven’t had this one in Body Balance before but I love to teach it in Yoga.
  • The abs and back tracks are hard core tough. It was like turning a tap on. Sweat was pouring out of my head by the end of these.

After we finished the class with it’s chilled final phase there was a education session looking at “feeling” the yoga elements of Body Balance. How do you do this? Hold a pose for 5 long endless minutes, in this case downward facing dog. A simple and effective method of getting us to feel the moves. So more moans and groans from the room full of instructors who all committed to trying this with a pose a week from now on.

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record it looks like we have yet another amazing release continuing an unbroken run of top quality since way back at number 39. I’m going to really enjoy learning and teaching this one.

Watch out for a full review of the class once I have learned it and taught it a few times.

Over to you: Are you a Body Balance instructor? What were your first impressions of release 57. Please leave a comment by clicking below, I’d love to know what you think.

Eleven ways to strengthen, stretch and flex – what is a Body Balance Class?

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I’ve been blogging a lot about Yoga recently but here’s a post that answers the question, “What is a Body Balance class?” It’s an hour long exercise to music class from international, New Zealand based, fitness giant Les Mills. It is also ten or eleven ways to strengthen, stretch and flex your body.

What is a Body Balance class?

The Les Mills format is straight forward. They release a new class every 3 months. We are up to release number 56 in Body Balance. Where ever you take part in a class, anywhere in the world , it will be the same moves and the same music. That’s great for continuity.You can get comfortable with the moves over a few weeks and then really get into developing your technique.

Body Balance itself is a lovely combination of moves and exercises from Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates choreographed to great mood music. One of the best things about teaching this class for the last seven years is the great new artists I have discovered and fallen in love with. Great groups like Sleepthief, Conjure One, and Delerium that you have probably never heard of. And then some that you will have like Sting, Annie Lennox, The Script and Leona Lewis.

A Body Balance class usually consists of ten or eleven pieces of music with associated exercises as follows:

What is a Body Balance class?

Tai Chi Warm Up: A beautiful flowing way to start. Arm circles, waist rotations, and shifting the weight from side to side. I like to describe this track as flowing like water, with no beginning to the moves and no ending. They merge into one sequence effortlessly and seamlessly. It warms up the body and clears the mind ready for some harder work later.

Sun salutations: Most yoga classes contain a sun salutation to warm up the body and Body Balance uses those yoga moves to the same effect, often adding a few surprise exercises into the sequence to maintain variety. The sequence is quite quick, often containing up to 16 different positions that flow from one to the next.

Standing strength: Now the class gets harder. Expect standing yoga poses like the warriors, triangle and standing lunges, design to strengthen the thighs and the gluteals. These tracks can be quite tough and they are meant to be. You will start to tremble and will notice a difference in your strength after only a few classes.

Balance: The pace slows down a little with exercises to test two things. Your balance – as most of the poses involve being on one leg. And strengthening the lower legs – your calves and ankles. These tracks are beautiful and challenging at the same time.

Hip openers: Anyone who runs or walks frequently, and definitely anyone who takes part in cardio classes will find their hips become tight. Body Balance gives you exercises to open up and stretch the hips. Expect to feel on the borderline between pleasure and pain in this track. The moves offer sweet release from tightness.

Core abdominals: Now we move into a more Pilates based environment with a track designed to sculpt the core of the body and the abs in particular. You might combine crunches, planks, side planks, leg raises and extensions. You will definitely feel a fire start to burn in your tummy.

Core Back: This second Pilates based track works the lower back and gluteals. You might be on your tummy lifting your legs up behind and your arms and chest up, or on hands and knees lifting into a cat stretch. When these two tracks are done you might feel really tired and there is often a natural short break here in child pose to allow you to recover.

What is a Body Balance class?

Twists: By now the hardest part of the class is over. Gentle abdominal twists, either seated or lying down allow gravity to massage your inner organs. There might be some harder exercises like twisting lunges but on the whole the emphasis is calmer. The relaxing ending is in site.

Forward Bends: Many of us have tight hamstrings, particularly men who run and don’t stretch (which is most of them). This final working track is designed to stretch the hamstrings and the inner thigh muscles and sometimes the IT bands. The moves are slow, the stretches can be intense, the rewards don’t take long to show up. You will notice more flexibility here after a month or two of classes.

Relaxation: Sometimes one, maybe two pieces of music designed to relax the body. So on with a jacket and some socks. Lie down in a comfortable position, breathe deeply and let the oxygen re-energise your tired muscles and slow your heart rate done. Some people leave the class before this last section. I think that is a shame. We live such busy lives that we owe ourselves a few moments to chill. It might only be 6 or 8 minutes but it really finishes the class nicely. You’ll have combined the physical exercise earlier with a great relaxing calmness.

So that’s what to expect from a body balance class. Ten or eleven pieces of amazing music to strengthen, stretch and flex your body and to finally unwind the mind.

Over to you: Please tell me your experiences with Body Balance either as a teacher or a participant. What to you enjoy? What do you find most challenging? Please leave comment by clicking on “leave a reply” below.

If you liked this post you might like these reviews of past Body Balance releases: